Apr 24, 2019 4 min read

Local elected officials met Wednesday in Canonsburg with doctors, government agencies and families whose loved ones are battling Ewing’s sarcoma, one day after the Pennsylvania Department of Health issued a report concluding no cancer cluster exists in Washington County or Canon-McMillan School District.

Following the meeting at the Canonsburg Borough Building, state Rep. Tim O-Neal, R-South Strabane, called on the Department of Health to hold a meeting to discuss the findings of the recent report.

The DOH launched a review in March after it was contacted by residents who were concerned about a number of Ewing’s sarcoma cases in Canon-Mac and Washington County.

According to the report, the incidence rate of Ewing’s sarcoma in Washington County and Canon-McMillan is not statistically significantly higher than expected when compared to incidence rates for the rest of the Pennsylvania population.

“The report released Tuesday raises a lot of questions,” said O’Neal. “I encourage the department to hold a public meeting so concerns surrounding the findings can be addressed.”

O’Neal said the study “has limitations,” and noted it included data collected through the end of 2017. At least two recent cases, Mitchell Barton, 21, of North Strabane Township, and David Cobb, of Canonsburg, are not included in the review.

“A follow-up study with 2018 data is needed,” said O’Neal.

O’Neal and Canonsburg Mayor David Rhome organized the meeting to gather facts surrounding the cancer cases in Canon-McMillan.

About 50 doctors, environmental officials, school officials and elected officials participated in the meeting, and families had an opportunity to ask questions and provide information.

Christine Barton, Mitchell Barton’s mother, said she was satisfied with the results of the meeting.

“The meeting was informative. Our local officials will be lobbying for more funding of pediatric cancer research. They also promised us a public meeting with the Department of Health,” she said.

Rhome described Wednesday’s meeting as a “workshop.”

“The workshop proved to be valuable. But we need to further this,” said Rhome. “This is a first step. Everybody’s looking for answers.”

O’Neal called on the National Institute of Health to conduct a multi-year, multi-state study of Ewing’s sarcoma and the Ewing’s family of tumors in order to gather more data and find a cause.

He also advocated for additional research at the state and federal levels.

“No parent should have to watch their child suffer from this deadly disease,” said O’Neal.

In the past decade, six people within the borders of the Canon-McMillan School District have been diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma.

O’Neal announced at the beginning of April he planned to hold a closed-door meeting to get information and determine what further action should be taken after he became aware of several cases of Ewing’s sarcoma in the county and particularly Canon-McMillan.

The decision to close the meeting to the public drew the ire of some, and a group of about a dozen people protested Tuesday outside the office of state Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll Township, who attended Wednesday’s meeting.

O’Neal said the intention behind holding a closed meeting was “we didn’t want it to be a spectacle.”

Bartolotta said she is “eager to continue the conversation” and thanked the families who came to the meeting and shared their stories.

O’Neal plans to schedule the public meeting as soon as he hears from the Department of Health.

“There are still plenty of questions coming out of this meeting,” said O’Neal. “I think it’s important for (the DOH) to come down and explain, in laymen’s terms, the results of their report.”